Media player for receiving media content from a remote server

ABSTRACT

An embodiment of the present invention may be deployed in a system comprising a media player and a remote server operably connected to communicate with one another. The invention allows for a settings file to be stored on the remote server, the settings file comprising parameters useful for adjusting different settings on the media player such that rendering of a particular content to be made possible on the media player according to a user&#39;s predetermined taste by downloading the settings from the server onto the media player.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a U.S. National Stage Application of InternationalApplication No. PCT/EP2014/059398 filed May 7, 2014, which claimspriority from European Patent Application No. 13166886.5 filed May 7,2013.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention pertains to the domain of digital equipmentprogramming, especially where such programming involves initialising orotherwise setting said equipment into a predetermined state.

BACKGROUND ART

U.S. Patent Publication No. 8,027,518 B2 discloses an architecture thatcan obtain biometric data from a user as the user interacts with a pieceof digital equipment. Based upon the obtained biometric data, thearchitecture can determine an identity of the user and automaticallyapply settings to the piece of digital equipment, the settings beingassociated with the particular user. The disclosure therefore isaddressed at solving a problem of automatically configuring the piece ofdigital equipment according to a particular user, the user beingsufficiently authenticated in a convenient manner without requiring theuser to perform an activity over and above the gestures he wouldnormally make when using the equipment. Given that the field ofapplication does not present a high incentive for piracy, then the levelof authentication need not be particularly high and so authentication bybiometric means, although recognised as being imperfect, is deemed to besufficient for this application. Since the purpose of the mentioneddisclosure is not for automatically setting controls of any one from aplurality of potential rendering devices such that a user may experiencea particular media content according to his pre-determined preference,specific provision for achieving such benefits is not disclosed therein.

U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0154212 A1 describes amethod for providing, upon request, an augmented user interface (AUI)providing functionality to a user having a particular type of specialneed such a user having diminished sight faculties for example. AUIconfiguration information for a particular user is collected, recordedin a preference file, and sent to a remote server for storage. Uponreception of a login request by the remote server, the remote serverauthenticates the user, retrieves the stored preference file and sendsthe preference file to the computer currently being used by the user.The computer being used by the user can then configure an appropriateAUI for that user. This provides an adequate interface for the user tocontinue working with his computer using an interface with which he isfamiliar and which is adapted to his special needs.

U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0033634 A1 is directedtowards rendering a media presentation to a user in manner which isspecific to that user depending on some current information regardingthe user. The current information depends on a context and apre-determined user-profile. The context is provided by context sensors,which may be movement detectors or biometric detectors for example todetermine what the user is doing at that particular time. The context isinterpreted using the user-profile to map to a mood or physical state ofthe user, thereby allowing for the rendering of the media presentationto be adjusted. Such adjustment may include timing of when anadvertisement is shown or different presenters may be shown oradjustment of playback parameters of the playback device may be made(e.g. volume or brightness) or even environmental conditions may beadjusted, such as dimming the room lighting for example. In this manner,the user experience while the media presentation is being rendered canbe altered depending on a profile and the viewer's current behaviour.The purpose thus achieved is therefore not one of ensuring that aparticular content will be experienced according to a user'spre-determined control settings irrespective of the particular devicewhich is being used.

U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/020943 A1 describes acontent browsing apparatus and method in which a user profile and aterminal profile are stored. The user profile comprises informationregarding user-preferred content, while the terminal profile comprisesinformation related to the browsing apparatus, such as a user'spreferred listening volume on that apparatus. The terminal profile iscreated once and is stored on the terminal (browsing apparatus).Provision is thereby made for apparatus to present the viewer withcontent according to the user's preferred content and the presetparameters affecting the playback of the content. This does not addressthe problem of accessing particular content from any device and havingit played back on that device according to pre-determined settings forthat content.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is aimed at solving some of the problems apparentin the prior art, including the technology mentioned above. According toan embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided for givingaccess, using a media player, to a media content file, said accessallowing for a user to experience rendering of the media content fileaccording to a pre-determined set of parameters associated with saidrendering of said content. The method includes recovering, from a remoteserver, a pre-stored metadata file associated with the pre-stored mediacontent, the metadata file comprising settings personalised for theuser, the settings affecting parameters related to the rendering of themedia content on the media player. The parameters include volume level,bass level, treble level, fader position, balance position, brightnesslevel, colour level, contrast level among others.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda media player for performing the above method. The media player canalso automatically store and synchronise preferred settings forrendering of media content files using the media player, saidsynchronizing taking place between the media player and a remote server.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, provision ismade for a particular file format for a metadata file comprisingsettings allowing for a media player to be configured either accordingto a user's predetermined choice or according to particular requirementsof a particular media content file or file-type or according to aparticular media player of media player type. According to variousembodiments a combination of the settings mentioned in this paragraphmay be applied.

According to one aspect of the present invention, provision is made fora media player for rendering a media content, the media playercomprising processing means and configured such that at least onecharacteristic related to said rendering of the media content isadjustable according to a value of at least one control parameter;

-   characterised in that:    -   the media player is further configured to:        -   store a predetermined value of the control parameter on a            server, the media content being associated with the            predetermined value of the control parameter;        -   recover the predetermined value of the control parameter            from the server; and        -   adjust the characteristic related to said rendering of the            media content using a control setting value derived from the            recovered predetermined value of the control parameter.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a system comprising:

-   -   a media player for rendering a media content; and    -   a server having a remote connection to the media player;    -   the media player comprising processing means and configured such        that at least one characteristic related to said rendering of        the media content is adjustable according to a value of at least        one control parameter;

-   characterised in that:    -   the media player is further configured to:        -   store a predetermined value of the control parameter on the            server, the media content being associated with the            predetermined value of the control parameter;        -   recover the predetermined value of the control parameter            from the server; and        -   adjust the characteristic related to said rendering of the            media content using a control setting value derived from the            recovered predetermined value of the control parameter.

According to yet a further aspect of the present invention there isprovided a method for rendering a media content on at least one mediaplayer, the media player configured such that at least onecharacteristic related to said rendering of the media content isadjustable according to a value of at least one control parameter, themethod comprising:

-   -   storing a predetermined value of the control parameter on a        server, the predetermined value of the control parameter being        associated with the media content;    -   playing the media content on the media player;    -   recovering from the server, by the media player, the        predetermined value of the control parameter associated with the        media content; and    -   deriving a control setting value from the recovered value of the        control parameter, the control setting value being used to        adjust the characteristic related to said rendering of the media        content.

Accordingly, there is provided a technique for automatically settingcontrols of any one from a plurality of potential rendering devices suchthat a user may experience a particular media content according to hispre-determined preference irrespective of which rendering device isbeing used.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be better understood thanks to the detaileddescription which follows and the accompanying drawings, which are givenas non-limiting examples of embodiments of the invention, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a system in which an embodiment of the present inventionmay be deployed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

When using a media player to play media content, i.e. to play a mediacontent file, a user generally has to adjust various parametersassociated with the rendering of the media content file on his mediaplayer. Such parameters include listening volume, fade setting, balancesetting, bass level and treble level among others. According toembodiments of the present invention there is provided a method forstoring such settings in a metadata file on a remote server along withthe media content file and to recover the settings in a manner whichwill allow any particular media player selected by the user to renderthe media content file according to the user's predeterminedpreferences. By remote server it is meant one or more storage facilitiesprovided outwith the media player where one or more media content filesmay be stored. The remote storage facilities can be provided on one ormore computers accessible via a network such as the Internet forexample. Such remote servers may also be referred to as the Cloud. Aparticular user may have a Personal Cloud in that access to the contentstored in the Personal Cloud is reserved to that particular user,preferably through a process including identification and authenticationof the user. Advantageously the remote server is accessible by the userfrom a large number of geographical locations, preferably anywhere, andusing any media player as long as it is capable of receiving the mediacontent from the remote server and rendering the media content.

According to embodiments of the present invention the media player couldbe any from of a personal computer (otherwise known as a laptop computeror desktop computer), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobiletelephone (particularly of a so-called Smart-phone type), a computertablet, a mobile digital audio file player, a mobile digital videoplayer, a set-top box, a digital television set (such as an integrateddigital TV, mobile or fixed, especially one adapted for playing contentfrom a remote server (IPTV)) or any other digital electronic deviceallowing for either a hardware, software or mixed hardware/softwaremedia playing function to be installed and operated.

According to a first embodiment of the present invention a media playeris provided, the media player comprising a storage module upon which amedia content file may be stored. The storage medium may also serve tostore a metadata file comprising parameter settings useful duringrendering of the media content file by the same media player or anothermedia player. Throughout this document, the term control parameter mayalso be used to mean the parameter setting. The metadata file may beused to adjust various parameter settings of the media player. Byadjusting the parameter settings the rendering of the media content bythe media player may be altered in a way which is perceptible by theuser. It can therefore also be said that the media player is configuredsuch that at least one characteristic related to the rendering of mediacontent is adjustable according to a value of on or more controlparameters. Whereas it is not usual for control parameters, as describedherein, to be associated with a piece of media content, according toembodiments of the present invention, control parameters are associatedat least with a particular media content. The storage module thusprovides at least temporary storage for at least the metadata file,since the media player further comprises a communication interface forstoring at least the metadata file on a remote server. The communicationinterface must be bidirectional, thereby allowing the media player tosend the metadata file to the remote server or to recover a media datafile and/or its associated metadata file from the receiver, as will beseen later. According to preferred embodiments, the media content fileis also stored on the server. According to some embodiments, the mediacontent file and the metadata file are associated with each other in thesense that the settings within the metadata file are to be applied to amedia player whenever that particular media content file is to berendered. It will be recognised by the person of ordinary skill in theart that media content files may comprise audio, video or audio/videocontent. Settings which may be stored in the metadata file may thereforebe applicable to any of the usual parameters associated with therendering of the media content file, such as listening volume level,fade setting, balance setting, bass level and treble level, faderposition, balance position, brightness level, colour level and contrastlevel, among others. These are otherwise known as characteristicsrelated to the rendering of the media content. These settings and levelsare parameters which affect the qualities perceived by a user duringrendering of the content by the media player. To be more specific,loudness is a quality perceptible by the user, bass level is a qualityperceptible by the user etc. These qualities can also be known ascharacteristics related to the rendering of the media content.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary system in which an embodiment of the presentinvention may be deployed. A user has access to a personal cloud (C) ona remote server (S), the server having a storage module with a firststorage space (CT) for one or more media content files (CT1) and asecond storage space (MD) for metadata files (MD1) a metadata file (MD1)being associable with a media content file (CT1). In FIG. 1 a dottedarrow is shown between the media content file (CT1) and the metadata(MD1) file, indicating that the two files are associated with eachother, meaning that a user has already chosen his settings for thatparticular media content file (CT1) and saved it in the metadata file(MD1) on his personal cloud (C) on the remote server (S). By personalcloud (C) it is meant a space on the server which is accessible by theuser upon successful authentication. The server has processing means(CPS), which may be used for processing the metadata file (MD1). Theremote server (S) has a communication link (ANT, TXRX) to a media player(MP) and as such the media player (MP) may upload or download data fromthe server (S). The media player has rendering device (VDU), such as aspeaker or a display or a display and a speaker, for rendering the mediacontent. The media player further comprises a processor (CPMP) which maybe used for processing settings from the metadata files (MD). Thebidirectional link may also be referred to as a bidirectional channel.

During operation of a media player according to any of the embodimentsof the present invention, a media player stores a metadata file on aremote server, the metadata file comprising the user's preferredsettings for the rendering of a particular media content file. When thesame media content file is subsequently selected by the user forrendering on the same media player or another media player, the user maychoose whether or not he wants to use his preferred settings forrendering of the selected media content file. In the case that the userdoes want to use his preferred settings, the previously stored settingsassociated with the selected media content file are recovered from themetadata file stored on the server and the settings are applied to themedia player for the rendering of the content. The media content filemay either be played from the memory module of the media player orrecovered from the remote server along with the associated metadata file(by either downloading or streaming). In the case that the user decidesnot to use the previously stored settings, then he will configure newsettings for the media player manually.

According to embodiments of the present invention the settings in themetadata file are stored in absolute form, where the actual value of theparameter setting is stored in the file. Alternatively a relative valueis stored, for example in percentage terms. A 50% value for a particularsetting would mean that the parameter setting was at 50% of its maximumin this case. Alternatively, both the absolute and relative values couldbe stored to allow for flexibility in applying the settings depending onwhether or not the settings will be applied to the same media playerwhich was used to determine the settings or a different media player. Inthe context of the present invention, a relative value means a valuefrom which the actual parameter setting may be derived given thepredetermined range of possible values for the media player.

If the same media player or the same type or model or manufacturer ofmedia player is used to replay a content file, then it is simple to usejust the absolute value of a setting from the metadata file to programmethe media player during subsequent playing of the same content.Alternatively, if a different type of media player is used for thesubsequent playing or a different manufacturer or different model, thenit is advantageous to use the relative settings. An application in theserver or on the media player can be executed on a processor to convertthe relative value to a value which will be understood by the mediaplayer.

As mentioned above, the calculation of the required commands to beapplied to the media player could be done using the processor on theremote server. Such calculations could be based on known elementsrelative to the media player identification in terms of type, model etcstored in a library on the server or taken directly from the mediaplayer when it connects to the server. Alternatively, it could be leftfor the processor on the media player itself to interpret the settingsfrom the metadata file.

By having both relative and absolute settings recorded in the metadatafile it is then easy to configure a media player of the same model asthe one which was used to generate the parameter settings by simplyusing the absolute settings. Similarly it easy to configure a mediaplayer of a different make or model by deriving settings based on therelative settings in the metadata file.

For systems in which embodiments of the present invention are deployedwhere both the media content file and the metadata file are stored onthe remote server, access is guaranteed even if rendering of content isrequired on a different device from the one which was used when storingthe settings.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the remoteserver storage device further comprises an area where a library of knownmedia players is stored. This library can be updated as and when userssave their settings. An application on the remote server retrieves adevice identifier from a media device when it connects and stores thedevice's capabilities in a file pertaining to the particular device typeor model. This information may also help in determining a device'smaximum and minimum settings per parameter (predetermined range), whichwill help when the settings in a metadata file are expressed in relativeterms such as in percentage value for example.

As mentioned above, the media player may be any of the known types aslong as it has access to the remote server. Typically this will be aninternet protocol interface capable of accessing the user's so-calledprivate cloud on the internet. The media player, typically referred toas a client device since it is configured to connect to a server,according to an embodiment, is further configured to communicate itsdevice type and capabilities to the server.

According to an embodiment, the server is configured to adapt thesettings from the metadata file to be suitable for the particular clientaccording to the capabilities communicated by the client to the server.For this the server has a processor to be able to translate the settingsin relative terms to absolute terms using the discovered capabilities ofthe media player. By discover it means that the media player sends itscapabilities in terms of predetermined ranges of its settings to theserver at some point during a communication between the two. In anotherembodiment it is the client itself which is configured to extract thesettings from the metadata file and to interpret the settings in anappropriate manner to be able to apply them to its own particularsettings requirements. The metadata file may include all settingsapplicable to a large set of known clients, each client using only thosesettings which are applicable to it, or the server configuring thosesettings on the client which are applicable to that particular client.Different clients may have different settings including HD/SD, surroundsound type, noise reduction type, stereo/mono, 2D/3D etc.

According to the various embodiment of the present invention discussedabove, the metadata file further includes settings applicable to a mediaplayer, the settings having been predetermined by a particular user.According to another embodiment of the present invention, the settingscould be predetermined with respect to a particular media player withoutsuch settings having been predetermined by a particular user but rathera set of default settings, possibly manufacturer-suggested settingsapplicable to the particular media player or rather media player type. Afurther variant of this embodiment is where the settings are related toa particular content or a particular content type. In this case thesettings are predetermined according to the media content itself or themedia content type itself. This is useful when the particular mediacontent or type is best rendered when a media player is configuredaccording to a set of settings, perhaps predetermined by the originatoror author of the content. For example, a composer of a particular pieceof music may suggest that the particular piece be best experienced whenthe piece is played at a particularly low volume for example. He couldthen associate the appropriate settings with his piece. Another work maybe best experienced in 2D, in which case a media player having 3Dcapability will nonetheless render the content in 2D thanks to thepredetermined settings. A particular cartoon may be best viewed with thecontrast at a particularly high value, in which case such a setting maybe associated with that content and included in the metadata file.

According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, which maybe combined with any of the previously described embodiments, thesettings in the metadata file may include values having an effect onphysical parameters of the media player. By physical parameters it ismeant parameters having an effect which is not necessarily limiteddirectly to the rendering of the content but rather having an effect onthe media player itself such as powering down of the media player orediting a real time clock within the media player or delaying a time ofrendering of the content or changing channel for example. Thesefunctions, which do not simply have an effect on the quality of therendering of the content perceived by the user, shall be known asphysical functions of the media player.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, where thesettings in the metadata file are at least associated with at least oneuser, the media player further comprises a biometric sensor to measureat least one biometric characteristic of the user. This measurement isthen used (either by a processor in the media player or by a processoron the server) to identify the user and then to impose a predeterminedset of settings applicable during the rendering of the content for thatuser. For example, this would be the case when the media player furthercomprises a sensor configured to detect at least one biometric parameterof the user, and further configured to use the biometric parameter toaffect the rendering of the media content file. For example, the mediaplayer may be operably connected to a camera configured to detect thedistance between the user's eyes. Given that the inter-ocular distancebetween an adult's eyes is greater than that between a child's eyes,such a measurement, made thanks to the camera and a processor configuredto calculate the inter-ocular distance for the user, may be included asa parameter in the metadata file to set the media player to preventplaying of a particular content or content type should the inter-oculardistance fall below a predetermined threshold.

The embodiment mentioned in the paragraph above may be adapted to allowfor parental control, whereby if the media player detects that a childis watching the content, then any of the known limitations can beapplied, such as limiting the listening volume or limiting the timewhich the user can spend viewing the content. In this case the mediaplayer further comprises a clock at least for measuring playing time ofa piece of content. For media players comprising a clock configured tomeasure time of day, then the volume could be limited when content iswatched later than a predetermined time of day. In these embodiments theprocessor in the media player can monitor the necessary parameters(time, inter-ocular distance etc) and adjust the settings in themetadata file as a function of the readings from the clock and/or thebiometric sensor when the metadata file is downloaded from the remoteserver. Alternatively it could be the server which is configured to editthe settings before editing the settings in the metadata file andtransmitting the metadata file to the media player. Any of the knowntransmission methods may be used to transmitting the settings to themedia player although in a preferred embodiment such transmission is viathe bidirectional communication channel which exists between thecommunication interface of the media player and the remote server.

In a particular embodiment of the present invention where the mediaplayer is configured to be able to render the media content in 3D, themedia player may be further configured to detect whether or not the useris wearing 3D glasses and to edit the settings in any of the waysmentioned previously to force the media player to render the contenteither in 2D or 3D according to whether or not the user is wearing the3D glasses.

Embodiments of the present invention allow for a user to save a numberof parameters associated with playback of a media content file orparameters otherwise affecting a media player during playback of aparticular media content file. Such parameters are usually those chosenor otherwise previously set by the user and are saved on a remote serverwithin a metadata file associated with the particular media contentfile. In this manner the user advantageously has access to his chosensettings any time he plays the media content file. The user may furthershare the settings with another user so that the other user can alsoenjoy the experience afforded by the use of the saved settings duringplayback of the media content file. According to a particularembodiment, a general set of settings can be saved in a metadata file onthe remote server, where the general set of settings is not particularlyassociated with any one piece of media content but rather is one user'ssettings for a particular media player or type of media player or modelof media player.

The metadata file comprising the settings (.settings for example) mayhave any of the known formats for machine-readable or human-readablecomputer files as long as the format is suitable to be properlyinterpreted by the media player. Known formats for the settings fileinclude simple ASCII text files or script files such as java, perl orphp for example. Mark-up language file formats may also be used,including for example XML files, XrML files or HTML files.

According to yet another embodiment, the settings comprised in themetadata file on the remote server may further include the user'sfavourite in terms of a preferred composer, a preferred film director, apreferred interpreter, a preferred musical style or a preferred filmgenre for example. In this way, if the media player obtains access to amedia library, such as a media server or a library on a hard disk, thenby downloading the user's settings from the metadata file on the remoteserver, the media player can extract the user's favourites and scan thelibrary for media content which corresponds to the user's services andpropose the content found to the user. The favourites may of course bedirect references to particular content rather then just a genre. Forexample the favourites may include the title of a particular film orpiece of music.

An example of an embodiment of the present invention in use would be auser who decides to watch a particular film which is stored in hisprivate cloud (i.e. on a remote server giving restricted access to theuser) switches on his TV, connects to his private cloud andauthenticated himself. Any of the known means of authentication arepossible, such as a username and a PIN or a username and a password orany of the known authentications via biometric techniques for example. Asystem in which the embodiment of the invention is deployed may furthercomprise a conditional access module known in the domain of Pay-TV inorder to perform any of the known cryptographic authenticationtechniques. Once successfully authenticated, the user browses throughthe data available on his cloud, i.e. the media content files thereon,and selects one for rendering (viewing in the case of a film orlistening in the case of audio content such as a music file). The userdownloads a copy of the film to his TV or streams a copy of the film tohis TV and begins watching it. He adjusts the brightness, colour,volume, and bass and sets the player to render the audio part of thecontent in stereo. When the user has finished watching, the player savesthe settings that were used to play the film in a metadata file andstores the metadata file on the user's cloud and associates the metadatafile to the media content file which has the film. At some point in thefuture the user decides to watch the same film again. He authenticateshimself again and watches the film again on his TV, this time directlyusing the settings that he last used thanks to having also downloadedthe settings from the metadata file associated with the film.Alternatively, if he chose to access the film from his mobile phonewhile traveling, thanks to the fact that the settings are also stored inrelative values as well as or instead of absolute values, then the newmedia player, which is the mobile phone, is able to reproduce the samesettings that were previously used on the TV. The translation of therelative values to values required for the new media player may becarried out by an appropriate processor on the remote server (cloud) oralternatively may be carried out by an appropriate processor comprisedin the media player. The processor (either remote or local) may alsotake care of properly interpreting certain settings and either ignoringthem where a certain setting is not applicable or interpreting themwhere a particular setting has a different meaning or has otherwise tobe deduced.

Another example of the embodiment of the present invention in use wouldbe similar to the above except that after the user watches the film forthe first time and saves the settings on the cloud, he goes to hisfriend's house to watch the same movie with his friend on his friend'sTV. An application is available on the cloud, configured to interpretmetadata files and to translate the settings therein from being suitablefrom a first media player model to being suitable for a second mediaplayer model. The user decides to share his settings with his friend.The user accesses his cloud, runs the application to translate hissettings for his TV to be compatible with the settings required by hisfriend's TV to create a second metadata file and designates the secondmetadata file as being shareable with his friend. His friend thenrecovers the settings from the second metadata file and applies them tohis TV while watching the film with the user.

Accordingly, there is provided a technique for automatically settingcontrols of any one from a plurality of potential rendering devices suchthat a user may experience a particular media content according to hispre-determined preference irrespective of which rendering device isbeing used. Pre-determined preferences are associated at least with thecontent to be rendered and may be recovered in a secure way from aserver following appropriate authentication.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: determining a firstvalue of at least one control parameter, the first value predeterminedby a user and associated with both a media content and rendering themedia content on a first media player; storing the first value of thecontrol parameter as a second value of the at least one controlparameter in a metadata file on a remote server, the second valuedifferent than the first value; causing the second value of the at leastone control parameter to be provided to a second media player; causingthe second media player to determine a third value using at least thesecond value of the at least one control parameter, the third valuebeing used to control a characteristic related to rendering of the mediacontent on the second media player; and causing the second media playerto play the media content using the third value.
 2. The method accordingto claim 1, further comprising: determining the first value of thecontrol parameter based at least on control parameter values whilerendering the media content on the first media player.
 3. The methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising: determining the first value ofthe control parameter based at least on a biometric characteristic ofthe user measured by a biometric sensor.
 4. The method according toclaim 1, the third value being equal to the first value of the controlparameter.
 5. The method according to claim 1, the third value beingproportional to the first value of the control parameter.
 6. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the characteristic related to rendering ofthe media content is selected from a group consisting of volume level,fade setting, balance setting, bass level, treble level, fader position,balance position, brightness level, color level and contrast level. 7.The method according to claim 1, wherein the third value reproduces thesame characteristic on the second media player as the characteristic onthe first media player.
 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein thesecond media player further comprises a clock configured to measure timeof day, the determination of the third value including checking whetherthe time of day is later than a predetermined time of day, an adjustmentbeing a reduction in volume if the check is positive.
 9. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the second media player further comprisesa clock configured to limit a time which the user can spend viewing themedia content and a camera to detect an inter-ocular distance of theuser and determine whether the user is a child, an adjustment being alimit to the amount of time the playing of the media content lasts. 10.The method according to claim 1, further comprising: storing the mediacontent in a first storage space associated with the user; and storingthe metadata file in a second storage space associated with the user.11. A system comprising: a first media player comprising a firstprocessor and configured for rendering a media content according to afirst value of at least one control parameter; a second media playercomprising a second processor and configured for rendering the mediacontent according to a third value; and a server configured to connectto the first and second media players; wherein the server is furtherconfigured to: store the first value of the control parameter as asecond value of the at least one control parameter in a metadata file,the second value different than the first value; wherein the secondmedia player is further configured to: receive the second value of theat least one control parameter from the server; determine a third valueusing at least the second value of the at least one control parameter,the third value being used to control a characteristic related torendering of the media content; and render the media content using atleast the third value.
 12. The system according to claim 11, wherein thefirst media player further comprises a biometric sensor for measuring atleast one biometric characteristic of a user and further configured todetermine the first value of the control parameter based on thebiometric characteristic of the user.
 13. The system according to claim11, wherein the third value reproduces the same characteristic on thesecond media player as the characteristic on the first media player. 14.The system according to claim 11, wherein the second media playerfurther comprises a clock configured to measure time of day, thedetermination of the third value including checking whether the time ofday is later than a predetermined time of day, an adjustment being areduction in volume if the check is positive.
 15. The system accordingto claim 11, wherein the second media player further comprises a clockconfigured to limit a time which a user can spend viewing the mediacontent and a camera to detect an inter-ocular distance of the user anddetermine whether the user is a child, an adjustment being a limit tothe amount of time the playing of the media content lasts.
 16. Thesystem according to claim 11, wherein the server is further configuredto: store the media content in a first storage space associated with auser; and store the metadata file in a second storage space associatedwith the user.